Live Science offers a peek into the politics of archaeology in Egypt and recent reports of protests at Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass’s office. “Since Zahi is so well known outside of Egypt, he’s a good target for reporters looking for a sensational story,” said Peter Lacovara of Emory University.  Hawass gave a press conference today. He talked about the damage and theft at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the protesters, and when the museum might reopen.  

PBS News Hour has some information on the conservation of artifacts.  

Early humans living 200,000 years ago were capable of the same sort of complex behavior usually reserved for modern humans, according to a study conducted by John Shea of Stony Brook University. He examined tools made between 250,000 and 6,000 years ago in eastern Africa, and found that the changes in the tools can be explained by the costs and benefits of tool-making strategies, not a singular “behavioral revolution.”  

Lightning strikes in Nepal damaged the Pratapur Temple, a World Heritage site, in the Swayambhu Monument Zone.  

A Roman-style house has been built in England, based upon the information gathered during the excavation of a house at the Roman site of Wroxeter.

Three artifacts looted from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo on January 28 were found in the museum’s gardens, according to Tarek al-Awadi, director of the museum.

The United Nations called for a permanent ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia in their border dispute at the site of the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear temple.  But within hours, a Thai soldier was wounded, reportedly by a hand grenade. BBC News has a map showing the borders claimed by both countries and the location of the temple.  

Footprints possibly made by a child hopping or skipping in the mud 2,000 years ago have been uncovered near a Roman fort in north Yorkshire, England.  

Archaeologists are investigating what life was like for the enslaved people living at L’Hermitage, a plantation in Maryland owned by French farmers from Haiti in the early 1800s. “These individuals had lives beyond what their masters expected them to do. Here, we get to see glimpses of their private lives as a community and as families,” said Stephen Potter of the National Park Service.  

A 3,000-year-old stone monument carved with the figure of a man has been discovered in southern Mexico at the site of Ojo de Agua. The man has one arm raised, and is wearing an elaborate headdress, ear ornaments, a necklace, a loincloth, and a belt with a jaguar-head buckle.  

Four groups of terraces originally constructed between 1470 and 1530 have been rebuilt on the eastern end of Machu Picchu. Archaeologists think the terraces were used to experiment with various crops.  

Burials of Ohlone Indians have been unearthed at a construction site in northern California.  

Take a look at a Google Earth image from Saudi Arabia showing a basalt stone structure that is thought to be a 2,000-year-old tomb. This article from Live Science also has more information on the study conducted by David Kennedy of the University of Western Australia. “I was able to actually see across the [Saudi Arabian] border, courtesy of Google,” he said.